Before there were showers, there were tubs for human bathing. The tubs were generally installed in a bathroom. When pressurized domestic water systems became common, especially with a pressurized supply of hot water, shower-heads were installed to deliver a spray or stream of water, from a height, into the tub. It immediately became apparent to many fastidious users that means were required to retain within the tub area, spray emanating directly from the shower head and indirectly from the body of the bather. One of the early retaining means comprised an oval track, substantially surrounding the tub, on which a curtain, hung from hangers which were slidably mounted on the track.
As construction became modernized, the bathtub was integrated into the structure of the bathroom and a tub alcove comprising two shorter walls bounding the tub ends, both intersecting a longer side wall confining one tub side were provided. A straight rod was positioned over the open side of the tub at or above the height of the shower head. The ends of the rod were secured to the shorter walls. A shower curtain, formed of a flexible waterproof material, initially of oiled silk, more recently of polyethylene or similar plastic material, was provided. The curtain was manufactured with grommeted holes along one edge. Metallic or plastic hooks were provided to engage the grommeted holes in the curtain and the rod, thereby enabling the curtain to be hung from the rod.
Unfortunately, the edges of the curtain, though pulled as far as possible toward the shorter end walls, never succeeded in preventing spray from an energetic shower head from traversing the gap between the edge of the shower curtain and the adjacent wall. Various measures, most costly and more or less effective, were offered. Some of these measures included ties, hooks hanging from the wall to engage grommeted holes in the curtain edge, zippers and hook-and-loop strips and pads adhering to the curtain edge and the end walls.
One approach employing hook-and-loop pads, commonly referred to as "VELCRO" a trademark, is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,072 to Dezura, issued 7 Mar. 1978. Dezura positions a continuous hook/loop pad on the tub edge and the lower portion of the adjoining end wall, along with a series of small hook/loop pads mounted in corresponding positions on the curtain edge, thereby ensuring the curtain edge conforms to that intersection. Dezura also teaches small hook or loop pads at various intermediate positions along the curtain edge engaging much larger mating pads adhesively fastened to the end walls.
Dezura's solution to the spray and curtain - wall closure problem is both costly, because of the large areas of hook-loop material which are required to effect closure, and time consuming to apply, because of the multiplicity of pads which must be applied to the curtain. A further significant disadvantage arises when it is desired to remove the Dezura pads from the wall and tub surfaces. The cost and effort required to remove from a base, materials which have been attached to the base by adhesive, is a function of the area of the materials attached. In Dezura's construction, large pad areas are required and consequently a large amount of labor with large resulting costs must be expended when removal of his large pads are required.
My present invention, disclosed herein, also employs hook and loop pads or their equivalent, but it achieves a tight and effective seal between the curtain and the adjacent wall with relatively few and relatively small hook-loop pads required on both the curtain and the wall.
I achieve this desirable result by deliberately providing relatively small pads, the hook pads and the loop pads being of substantially equal size; and by providing a means for positively establishing the relative locations of the wall mounted pads with respect to the corresponding curtain mounted pads so that when the two are mated, there exists tension of the curtain between the rod and the points where the curtain pads and the wall pads are mated.
In one embodiment of my present invention the means for establishing the correct relative pad locations comprises a scale, typically fabricated of a suitable flexible material such as cloth, plastic sheet or paper, the scale including two sets of index marks, one set identifiable as applicable to the location of pads to the curtain, and a second set identifiable as applicable to the location of the mating pads to the wall. The scale is adapted to be suspended from the curtain rod by one of the same hangers employed to hang the curtain.
In another embodiment of my present invention the scale or the index marks alone are printed or otherwise identified on the edge of the curtain itself. That is, the material of the curtain comprises the base on which the index marks are located.
In yet another embodiment of my present invention, the curtain has the curtain pads already positioned and securely mounted in place, the curtain pads themselves constituting the curtain index. In this embodiment, the curtain edge has the indexes for correctly positioning the wall pads printed, embossed or otherwise identified on the curtain itself.
In yet another embodiment of my invention, one of each pair of curtain pads, joined and mated together by their respective hooks and loops are positioned on the curtain edge by the installer by her removing a protective waxed paper from the adhesive side of one pad and pressing and securing that pad in a position on the curtain edge. The protective waxed paper is removed from the other pad. The curtain edge is then stretched by the installer pulling down on the curtain edge and while stretched, the adhesive side of the other pad is pressed against the wall, thereby providing a taut interface between the curtain edge and the adjacent wall.